


The Mantis and the Bee

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character's Name Spelled as Hanji, Depressed Hange, F/M, Floch being Floch, If You Squint - Freeform, Manga Spoilers, Possessive Behavior, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23286013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Caution: Summary and story contain spoilers for recent manga chapters.Six months after the Rumbling has started, Floch finds that he has need for Hanji Zoe.Floch’s back pocket would not be a bad place for her to be.Introductory story in a planned series.
Relationships: Floch & Hange Zoë, Floch/Hange Zoë
Kudos: 8





	The Mantis and the Bee

**Author's Note:**

> Hello All, 
> 
> Welcome to my story. This is a horrible result of coming across too many freakin' Floch x Hans memes lately. (Totally surprised that there isn't any Floch/Hanji content out there). This was initially a rape/non-con one-shot that has grown into a planned series concerning these two in a post-Rumbling world. Everything has been written from a slightly unreliable Third Person POV, generally from Floch himself. 
> 
> Thoughts are italicized. Yeagerists are true sons of Eldia.
> 
> P.S. Guess how many lies Floch tells in this one. Poor Hanji needs a hug.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Good day!  
> -The Author

“Hanji.”

“Floch.”

Floch saw her gaze flit down at the ever present pistol at this side with a hint of disapproval. _Ah, Commander Hanji… Even now in her present predicament, just as stubborn as ever._

“Come now. Sit.” Floch gestured to the nearby table heavily laden with a decent spread of breads and refreshments. In the dark days before the taking back of Wall Maria, such a variety of basic fare would have been difficult to come by except for perhaps the old elite within the capital. Floch gave a terse nod to the pair of soldiers behind Hanji Zoe, and the pair gave a quick salute before turning around and heading out the door. They were under orders not to disturb this meeting unless a certain signal was given. Hanji Zoe would not be an easy nut to crack, but she would have to crack today. Eventually.

Floch did not miss the trail of her single unharmed eye as his retreating soldiers closed the only exit behind her. Her unbound hair bounced as she swung her head back to face him; she absentmindedly rubbed the red concentric circles marring her newly unbound wrists.

“So where were we?” The redhead smiled. “Come on. Sit, and eat.” Floch pulled out a chair.

Hanji sat. Stripped of her uniform and clothed in a pale shift and rough woolen kirtle, glasses missing, hair free of the usual ponytail, to the uninformed she looked as almost as unassuming as any other woman on the island. A strange one, with an eyepatch. Floch watched as she must have mentally noted the absence of the usual sharp objects used at the dinner table. Floch Forster wasn’t a true betting man, but he had figured he would live longer within an enclosed space with a Hanji Zoe armed with wooden spoons rather than steel knives.

He felt her stiffen slightly as he took the courtesy to push her chair closer to the table. How interesting. Under a year ago, their current positions in power had been reversed. Commander Zoe sitting in front of him with his freedom in her hands…or so it had seemed. Now, thanks to Eren, they had all been fortunate to gain power over their former enemies. As Floch seated himself across from the former commander, his mind briefly wondered what she might have been thinking just now. _Perhaps she was thinking that she was a victim in all this? Could she still be thinking that preventing the Rumbling from happening was the right decision even though all on this island lived only due to Eren’s will and sacrifices?_

It was almost six months since Eren started the Rumbling of the World to protect the Eldian Empire. The Savior of Eldia had not been seen since, but Floch knew that one day Eren would return when the job was finished. Festivities had lasted over a month after the final colossal titan had left the island. Wine flowed until that were none remaining; children and grandchildren were hoisted high into the air; families feuding for generations laid down their weapons and broke bread among each other. Floch had never experienced anything like it before. People, the Eldian people, crying, laughing, kissing.

Floch stared at the blank face of one who had fought and bled so long for Eldia only to turn traitor in the end. He had so often thought of Commander Hanji, Captain Levi, Armin, Connie, Jean and Mikasa… _What could have happened to turn them against their own nation? To fight alongside those who had directly caused their peoples’ suffering for decades… So many starved, killed, eaten…_ Floch felt his throat tighten with sudden hate but forcibly he beat it down.

“I take it Wohl and Christensen are taking care of all of you down there?”

Hanji smiled. “Excellent care, really. They’re treating us amazingly well down in the dungeons.” Her smile was wide enough to show a missing right incisor that Floch knew had been intact not too long ago. A second later he remembered the Marleyan general blowing off the face of a man who had been standing right beside him and found that he did not care.

Floch sighed. He was a man of swift justice, not torture. Wohl and Christensen, who had been assigned to guard all prisoners, were good men, and dependable to a fault, but Christensen was older and was previously enlisted within the Garrison and had had a family; Wohl was recently married. It was only logical that they weren’t very hospitable to those who tried to prevent Eren from activating the Rumbling and threatening the lives of all they had loved. _If either one had slipped…or temporarily forgotten to always uphold his assignment…what man or woman on this island could blame him?_

“You could have informed me you were being mistreated, you know,” Floch replied, learning forward. “Other soldiers would have been assigned to watch over you.”

Hanji raised an eyebrow. “Really? I thought you might have guessed this would happen. Honestly I thought you would have killed us all right away.”

Any other would have been surprised that Hanji had considered her own death, but not Floch. Above all else, Hanji Zoe had always been pragmatic when the situation allowed. The tired looking woman with the blank face who sat in front of him had been a slippery, but worthy foe. Floch nodded once to her statement before reaching over to grab a bottle of wine.

“I did expect something like that would happen. When the truth was exposed to the public about Survey Corps’ actions during the final battle, I fully expected a lynch mob beating down the doors and demanding your blood. I guess you still may have friends in high places, Hanji, but for how long even I am not sure.”

“Oh, I can answer that one,” Hanji replied with overly inflated cheerfulness. “You are all afraid to execute us until Eren returns. I don’t know what excuse you’ve given the public, but even you, Eren’s so-called messenger to us all, aren’t sure how Eren feels about us, his old comrades in the Survey Corps. Also there are those remaining who remember the Survey Corps’ first victories for humanity all those years ago.”

Floch smiled. “Maybe.”

“Oh? You’re admitting that I’m right?” A ghost of a smiled tugged at the right corner of her mouth.

Floch shrugged in response. “Nobody has tried to break all of you out of custody for a second time. Does it really matter if you’re right?”

Hanji laughed. “I'm surprised you have time enough to spare to summon me here to play twenty questions. Things have sure changed since I was commander. What is it that you want, Floch?”

Floch held up his hand. A small part of him was thoroughly enjoying her obvious powerlessness in this situation.

“Patience, a little while longer. I have a proposition for you that you will want to consider, and I want you to hear it all before responding. Now,” he held up a corded bottle of wine, “would you like a glass?” A dozen emotions flashed across her face too quickly for Floch to properly register. The right side of her mouth parted to sunk wind through her missing tooth.

“This one isn’t tainted, I’m guessing?” Hanji asked quietly. As he poured a liberal amount of wine in a smooth wooden cup, Floch tilted his head and admired the blotchy pink patches reddening her face.

“Your cups never were,” he admitted. Surprisingly, Hanji took the cup and downed the entire contents in seconds.

Floch blinked several times in confusion.

“Another one, please,” Hanji gasped as she swallowed the last gulp of wine.

“Wha-?”

“Another!” yelled Hanji, her face flushed an unsightly pink. “If I have to listen to your bullshit, at least I could get sloshed while doing so.”

Floch flushed with anger but kept his hands steady. What was so damn infuriating about Hanji Zoe was that she completely believed that she was in the right. Even now with one foot practically on the headsman’s platform, she could insult the only one who could keep her alive. She would continue to insult until her head was sliced off her neck. The one who had invented the thunder spear, who was one of the first Eldians to experience the sea in a hundred years. _Such a waste_.

He poured Hanji another glass.

“Commander Hanji, I have a proposition for you, and through you the remnant of the old Survey Corps,” Floch’s voice was brisk and clipped. “I must be honest. I despise your actions during the Rumbling. I despise the fact that you and others allied yourselves with our ancestral enemy Marley to stop Eren from fulfilling his wish to protect this island where both he and you were born. If circumstances were different, I would ensure that all of you received just sentences for your desertion and betrayal of this empire, but I have need of you. All of you.” Floch did not break eye contact as he sat down again in front of Hanji.

Despite her earlier protest, Hanji had not drunk the second cup of wine but looked away as she swirled the contents of her cup in thought. Her voice was soft. “You must have no other option if you decide to turn to us, the traitors you despise so much. This must be really big.” Hanji cracked a small grin that Floch was shocked to find himself returning. _Damn, traitorous bitch or not, that weird sort of charm she carried was real and effective._

“Very big,” he admitted. “Although given your lodging these past few months, I doubt you’ve heard about it.”

Hanji frowned. “You’d be very surprised to know what we hear sometimes down there. Mostly small things, however. Just so you know, your serial pooper is Claus Thacker. Christensen knows, but Thacker has got some dirt on him. There, I have saved you weeks of useless investigations.”

“It’s nice to know that your detective skills aren’t lost.” Floch looked amused. “Because I have a deeper one for you. Everything has been kept quiet now for fear of alarming the people, but Zackley’s assassination caused a power vacuum. While we were all distracted by the Yeagers, a lot of people saw the opportunity to grab power for themselves. As we speak, this island is dominated by three factions: Augustus Zilmer, a noble who has found a way back into prominence, controls land near Mitras, mainly through financial and social contacts; Cecil Rufus is a high ranking member of the Garrison who has gotten command of several divisions surrounding areas of what used to be Wall Sina. The third faction, who has the largest amount of soldiers-”

“-must be you.” Hanji finished. At the befuddled look on his face, she waved her hand with a polite dismissal. “Oh come on, don’t look at me like that. It’s obvious. To these people you just saved the world even though you’ve really doomed everyone else. I can imagine the popularity you must have. A lot of soldiers must have flocked to your message before and after the final battle.”

Floch shook his head. “You seem to think we risked our lives against Marley for political gain? I’m disappointed, Hanji. The Hanji Zoe of four years ago would have understood Eren’s point of view about prioritizing the people on this island before all others and guaranteeing their freedom-”

“The Hanji Zoe of four years ago was ignorant about the lives of people outside this island,” Hanji snapped, her voice almost a low hiss. Her full cup of wine sloshed with the sudden tension throughout her body. “Now countless people and cultures who may have never even heard of or met an Eldian are dead!”

A thought, unbidden, surfaced just then in Floch Forster’s head. He finally realized what was wrong with Hanji Zoe. _Hanji Zoe was a person who gave equal importance to all lives. For someone such as she, the average Eldian family down the street was no greater or lesser than the average family in some dark unknown corner of the globe that she would never visit. This must have been the natural consequence after meeting Yelena, Onyankopan, and the volunteers. She had exchanged experiences with them; she had begun to see them and their nations as similar to her own. Hanji Zoe had forgotten her most important mission which was to protect her homeland above all others. To true nature cared for others too strongly, and this had been bent and distorted over time to include protecting those who would have wished harm on her nation._

For the very first time, Floch felt a twinge of pity for that woman.

“I do not celebrate those deaths. I’m not a fan of killing,” Floch began. He had finally realized the path he must take to gain her assistance. “But I am a son of Ymir and I live to protect New Eldia from persecution. It is known that the world would have destroyed this island simply because we are Eldians sooner or later. Even you had acknowledged it. There was no other solution that would allowed us to live.”

Yes, Floch realized the path he must take to glean Hanji Zoe’s vast repertoire of political and social knowledge. As much as he hated to admit it, Floch had no real political experience or any experience leading an army for an extended amount of time. Everything he had gained so far had been a combination of luck and circumstance and his firm belief in Eren’s message. Given the opportunity, someone as old and dirty as Zilmer and Rufus could turn him into a plaything in seconds. Not every situation could be solved on the battlefield… It was better for Floch to have someone he could trust to watch his steps until at least Eren Yeager returned…

Hanji Zoe groaned and held her head with both hands. In the process she seemed to not have noticed dropping her cup.

Floch took that as a sign to continue. “What’s done is done. Even if you could change my mind and make me support saving human life outside this island, I cannot stop Eren. We must keep moving forward.” He leaned forward closer to his one-time adversary. “I must stop any senseless bloodshed that may occur here in New Eldia. Zilmer and Rufus will not stop until only one controlled this island-”

“Yes, yes,” Hanji laughed bitterly, looking up at him. “This is all more familiar to me than you know. And which one do you support to rule this land? Rufus or Zilmer?”

“I support the rightful ruler to govern this island,” Floch responded. “Queen Historia.”

“Historia?” Hange straightened instantly and blinked in pure surprise. “What is wrong with Historia?”

Hanji’s response at the mention of the queen evoked within Floch an emotion similar to a fisherman whose bait had worked exceptionally well that day. “Queen Historia is missing. She’s been missing since the Rumbling when the rudimentary government lost all contact with her entourage. This information is also being suppressed by the government. The official report is that she is still recovering from birth, but this coverup won’t last for much longer. None of my men have any experience in espionage, and well, I do not trust what’s left of the Military Police to find her. It is known among certain circles that Zilmer and Rufus are desperate to find her as well to legitimize their campaigns.”

The brunette frowned in thought. “And so you come to us… The Survey Corps, perfectly suited to operate as an experienced unit who have gone against government resistance before. Highly unpopular and considered traitors and therefore easily expendable if something goes wrong.” She paused in her soliloquy. “You’ve searched the usual places, yes? And you have a list of people who may have an interest in hiding her?”

Hanji’s tone was smooth and efficient, but her face showed a slackness that betrayed a lack of hope. _Yes, there would be no mistaking that she knew what Floch was offering, and that if she agreed to it that the bars of her and her comrades’ new cages would be only marginally larger than their old ones. But they would live much longer. And, perhaps, one day they could crawl out from under eternal servitude…_

Floch smiled as he raised a hand to pause Hanji’s questions. “So that means you agree to assist us?”

Floch’s back pocket would not be a bad place for Hanji.

“I agree to help Historia,” Hanji stated simply.

Floch nodded. “And Captain Levi and the others?”

Hanji looked away at some invisible point above Floch’s left shoulder. She sighed. “If it is for Historia’s sake, you will find no resistance among them.”

“Good,” Floch grinned. He bent down to pick up her fallen cup and reached for her right wrist to place the cup within it. Her calloused hand was warm. “A toast then, to our new partnership.”

He grabbed the half empty bottle of wine standing nearby. “Welcome to the team, Hanji.”


End file.
